Stocks keep bleeding for fourth day

Stocks extended the losing streak for the fourth straight session on Tuesday as shaky investors continued their sell-off owing to a bleak expectation from the upcoming corporate declarations.
After the first hour of trading, the market saw intense selling pressure across-the bourse, pushing the core index down by around 50 points until mid-session. However, a subsequent buying spree on some sector-specific stocks helped a recovery from the initial plunge.
Finally, DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 12.31 points or 0.19 per cent to 6,400.70 points. DSEX shed almost 100 points in the past four trading days.
Investors chose to partially liquidate their holdings and reshuffle their portfolios, for losing hope over corporate declarations, said EBL Securities, in its regular market analysis.
"Investors are yet to regain confidence on the trading floor as they are concerned about the market outlook amidst the current macroeconomic adversities in the country," said the stockbroker.
However, two other indices saw fractural gains. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, gained 0.10 points to close at 2,277 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) moved up 0.06 points to 1,406.
Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, fell to Tk 10.05 billion on the premier bourse, which was 22.5 per cent lower than the previous day's mark of Tk 12.98 billion.
More than 200 stocks remained unchanged due to the 'floor price' restriction. Of the 369 issues traded, 100 declined, 49 advanced and 220 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor.
The investors reacted negatively to the regulator's recent restriction on purchasing shares before cheque encashment, coupled with the disappointment regarding the recent earnings declarations of some companies, said a stockbroker.
According to International Leasing Securities, the jittery investors went on a sell-off to exit from the market for a while now as they fear deepening challenges of inflation riding on the price hike of daily essentials including foods.
"The panicky investors preferred to hold cash to meet the daily expenses amid rising inflation and future uncertainty".
Large-cap sectors posted mixed performance. Food & allied booked the highest gain of 0.46 per cent, followed by banking 0.10 per cent.
On the other hand, the pharmaceutical sector experienced the highest loss of 0.23 per cent, followed by engineering with 0.20 per cent, non-bank financial institutions 0.13 per cent and power 0.06 per cent.
Orion Pharma became the most-traded stock with shares worth Tk 643 million changing hands, followed by Eastern Housing (Tk 640 million), JMI Syringes & Medical Devices (Tk 630 million), Beximco (Tk 509 million) and Anwar Galvanizing (Tk 485 million).
JMI Syringes & Medical Devices was the day's top gainer, soaring 10.98 per cent, or Tk 50.60, to Tk 511.30 following its declaration of 36 per cent stock dividend.
The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of Tk 4.55 for the year ended June 30, 2022 up from Tk 4.03 in the previous year.
On the other hand, the Peninsula Chittagong was the worst loser as its share price fell 13.06 per cent, or Tk 4.30, to Tk 28.60 due to lower than expected earnings for the year ended in June 2022.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower with the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) losing 41 points to settle at 18,854 and its Selective Categories Index (CSCX) shedding 24 points to close at 11,300.
Of the issues traded, 80 declined, 36 advanced and 84 issues remained unchanged.
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